Legislative Options for Simplifying and Restructuring the Charitable Deduction [TPC]

Mega-millionaire, 79, admits offshore tax evasion Mary Estelle Curran, 79, will pay nearly $21.7 million in penalties after admitting she filed two years of false tax returns. She failed to disclose her Switzerland and Liechtenstein accounts on federal tax returns from 2001 to 2007, according to a Justice Department announcement. [USAT]

Mary Schapiro still cross about China IPOs as she leaves the SEC [Quartz]

Paul Ryan asks White House if it will miss budget deadline again “Given the critical importance of addressing our nation's fiscal problems, I am writing to ask whether the President will submit his budget request this year on or before February 4 as required by law,” Ryan wrote in a letter to Acting Budget Director Jeff Zients. “If the Administration does not plan to meet the statutory deadline, when do you anticipate the request being made?” [The Hill]

Four 'Smurfs' Arrested For Assault Over Unlit Cigarette In Australia Four men dressed as Smurfs were arrested in Australia Tuesday after authorities called for the costumed men to come forward in connection with a Dec. 16 assault at a convenience store. According to the Age, the men, with skin painted blue like the fictional characters from the cartoon, allegedly assaulted a 37-year-old man at a Melbourne convenience store when he reportedly refused to light a cigarette he offered to one of the "Smurfs." [HP]

At some point in your career, you may have heard a self-deprecating quip from someone who claimed to be a "jack of all trades, but a master of none." And there's little debate these days -- a niche is crucial to a successful career.